OPPS, DONE THAT

Don’t stress your plants when transferring them from indoors to an outdoor garden

By JESSICA DAMIANO

AP

May 16, 2023

This May 9, 2023, image shows annual and vegetable seedlings being “hardened off,” or gradually acclimated to outdoor weather conditions, in Glen Head, NY. 

(Jessica Damiano via AP)

It’s prime planting time in many regions, and gardeners are flocking to garden centers for annuals, and herb and vegetablestarter plants. Likewise, those who have grown plants from seeds indoors may be gearing up to transplant them in the garden now.

But regardless of their origins, seedlings can’t typically go straight from an indoor nursery or home growing station to outdoor beds and borders without risk. They need to be “hardened off” first.

The term refers to gradually introducing plants to environmental conditions like sunlight, wind and temperature fluctuations that they haven’t yet experienced. If plants aren’t adequately hardened off, they could get sunburned or go into shock from more wind exposure or lower temperatures than they’re used to.

Stressed plants may recover, but the ordeal usually sets their growth back by a few weeks.

Start by placing plants outdoors in a sheltered, partially shady spot for incrementally longer periods each day for about a week before planting them in the garden. Shade is important because even your sunniest window (or a grow light) is no match for the direct rays of the sun.

Select a day after the danger of frost has passed and when the temperature is above 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Place plants outside for an hour (set a timer), then bring them back inside to a warm spot, ideally under grow lights. Repeat this on the second day for two hours, and add an hour of outdoor time each day for a week, after which they can safely be planted in their permanent homes, whether in the ground, a raised bed or a container.

Check the weather and keep an eye on conditions throughout the process. Bring plants inside if rain or severe wind threatens during their outdoor time.

No worries if there’s no shade in your garden. I harden my plants off under my patio table. Under a tree, shrub or row of hedges would work equally well. If you have none of those, shade plants with an umbrella or floating row cover.

If absolutely necessary, and as long as the weather isn’t hot, you can even plant your seedlings directly in the ground and harden them by covering each individually with a plastic, gallon-size milk container with its bottom and cap removed. Burying the bottom in a few inches of soil will hold the container in place, and you can water plants through the pouring hole at the top.

Remove the container for each day’s hardening-off session, setting it back into place and securing it into the soil afterward. Be aware that high temperatures and intense, direct sunlight may “cook” your plants, especially in Southern gardens, so gauge conditions and use your judgment before attempting this.

If you started plants in a greenhouse, they’ve already been growing in direct sunlight, so the process is abridged: Open the windows for a few hours each day for about a week, then move seedlings to a sheltered outdoor spot for two hours the first day and four hours the second day. After that, they should be good to go.

MORE GARDENING TIPS

– Time to study up: 35 gardening terms everyone should know

– Protecting your garden before and after severe storms

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Itching to start spring garden cleanup? Not so fast!

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Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

A rare, endangered seal named Yulia basks on Tel Aviv beach

AP
May 16, 2023

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Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal rests on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. An unexpected visitor spotted sunbathing on a beach in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is turning heads and causing a media buzz. The seal cow first appeared south of Tel Aviv's main beachfront last Friday, drawing clusters of curious onlookers to the rocky beach south of Jaffa's historic center on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)


TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An unexpected visitor spotted sunbathing on a beach in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is turning heads and causing a media buzz.

But it’s not American film director and Tel Aviv mainstay, Quentin Tarantino, or another Hollywood celebrity — it’s Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal.

The seal cow first appeared south of Tel Aviv’s main beachfront last Friday. On Tuesday, Yulia — so named by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority — drew clusters of curious onlookers to the rocky beach south of Jaffa’s historic center.

These seals are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with as few as 350 mature specimens estimated to exist in the wild. Its populations have dwindled due to historic seal hunting, fishing, and habitat destruction.

Rarely spotted on Israel’s shores, the dwindling Mediterranean monk seal populations are believed to survive only in a handful of places in the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel’s Parks Authority has fenced off the section of beach where Yulia has come ashore to rest, and dispatched volunteers to monitor her from a distance.

Still, her appearance is a sensation.

“This is a very rare event that a monk seal stays for such a long time on the shore,” said Aviad Scheinin, a marine biologist from University of Haifa.

Yulia is molting, a multi-day process of shedding her winter coat, he explained, during which time she has been resting on the shore and taken occasional excursions out to sea.

Scheinin said fellow researchers from around the eastern Mediterranean have previously spotted Yulia in Turkey and Lebanon in recent years. She is estimated to be around 20 years old.

“I’m researching marine mammals for 20 years; this is the first time that I’m actually seeing such a thing, and I can hardly sleep at night because of that,” he said.

Goodbye, fish and chips? New England haddock imperiled by overfishing

By PATRICK WHITTLE

May 16, 2023



 Fisherman David Goethel sorts cod and haddock while fishing off the coast of New Hampshire. Haddock, a staple seafood species targeted by East Coast fishermen for centuries, is experiencing overfishing, and changes are underway to prevent the fish's population from collapse, federal fishing managers said. Haddock are one of the most popular East Coast food fish, and they are commonly used in fish and chips and other popular New England seafood dishes. 

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A staple seafood species caught by East Coast fishers for centuries is experiencing overfishing, and regulators have cut catch quotas by more than 80% to prevent the fish’s population from collapse.

Haddock are one of the most popular Atlantic fish, and a favorite for fish and chips and other New England seafood dishes.

But fewer haddock will be caught in New England this year after regulators cut fishing quotas. A recent scientific assessment found that the Gulf of Maine haddock stock declined unexpectedly, and that meant the catch quotas for the fish were unsustainably high, federal fishing managers said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added the Gulf of Maine haddock stock to its overfishing list last month. The New England Fishery Management Council, a regulatory board, has lowered catch limits of the fish in an attempt to halt the overfishing, said agency spokesperson Allison Ferreira.

However, numerous fishers said the assessment doesn’t match what they’re seeing on the water, where haddock appear to them to be plentiful. And the warning from the federal government arrives as more New England fishers rely on haddock than in previous decades because of the collapse of other seafood species, such as Atlantic cod.

“We seem to find plenty, but they can’t,” said Terry Alexander, a Maine-based fisher who targets haddock and other species. “It’s a disaster is what it is. A total, complete disaster.”

The fishery management council mandated the 84% reduction in catch quotas for the current fishing year, which started May 1. The change applies to fishers who harvest haddock from the Gulf of Maine, a body of water off Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Fishers also harvest from Georges Bank, a fishing ground to the east where quotas were also reduced for this year, including adjoining areas overseen by Canadian officials who issued their own major cuts.

Americans are still likely to find haddock available despite the cuts because most of it is imported, according to federal data from 2021. Some countries that export haddock are also cutting quotas this year. But recent announcements of cuts by major exporters like Norway have been much lower than in the Gulf of Maine, and they represent a much larger share of global fish stocks.

Declining fish stocks threaten economies, food security and cultures around the world. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says more than a third of global fish stocks are overfished, and the rate of unsustainable fishing is rising. However, seafood species’ health varies significantly from region to region. Some, such as American lobster, have grown in catch volume in recent decades.

The U.S. catch of haddock has fluctuated over the past century. In the early 1950s, over 150 million pounds (70 million kilograms) were caught each year. Overfishing caused catches to plummet below a million pounds (450,000 kilograms) per year in the mid-1990s, and rebuilding efforts followed. Over the past few years, catches have ranged from 12 million to 23 million pounds (25 million to 50 million kilograms).

Haddock are caught by the same fishers who target other bottom-dwelling groundfish species such as cod, pollock and flounders. They are harvested at a much higher volume than any of those fish.

The fish are one of few profitable species on the East Coast said Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. He says losing the ability to catch them is a big hardship for the industry.

“I don’t think this stock is in trouble, and I think fishermen are in trouble because of that,” Martens said. “With this significant cut that is coming, that’s a major gut punch.”

Patrick Whittle is based in Maine and covers environment.pxwhittlepwhittle@ap.org

Animal rights group says chickens were abused, but Tyson Foods cut ties with the farm on its own

By JOSH FUNK

AP

yesterday

The animal rights group Animal Outlook says that a Virginia farm that raised chickens for Tyson Foods mistreated the animals, and one of their investors shot pictures and video documenting the abuse last year. But Tyson says it cut ties with the farm in January after it uncovered animal welfare issues there on its own. (Animal Outlook via AP)

An animal rights group said Wednesday that a Virginia farm that raised chickens for Tyson Foods mistreated the animals, allowing some of them to go without feed and water at times.

But Tyson says it cut ties with the farm in January after it uncovered animal welfare issues there on its own.

The group, Animal Outlook, said it had an investigator working undercover at Jannat Farm from August to November of last year observing as 150,000 birds were raised from chicks until they were ready for slaughter. In addition to seeing chickens go without feed for up to 52 hours, the group said it documented instances of physical abuse and filthy conditions at the farm.

The Associated Press could not immediately locate a contact at the farm itself. A spokesman for Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson, which processes 20% of U.S. beef, chicken and pork, denounced the conditions Animal Outlook documented in video and pictures shot at the farm and said the company ended its contract with the farm because it wasn’t meeting Tyson’s animal welfare standards.

“Since January 2023, no Tyson Foods birds have been placed on this farm and the farmer no longer has a contract to grow for Tyson Foods,” spokesman Derek Burleson said. “We have a longstanding commitment to the welfare, proper handling, and humane treatment and care of animals in our supply chain.”

Animal Outlook’s Executive Director Cheryl Leahy said Tyson should have known about the abuse sooner because the farm had been raising chickens for the meat producer for at least seven years, and the company had a manager overseeing operations there. Plus, Tyson was responsible for delivering the feed chickens went without for more than two days. Video shot by the group’s investigator also shows chickens being thrown and kicked by farm workers and in at least one case a worker ripped off the head of a chicken.

“There is absolutely no excuse,” Leahy said. “The day-to-day suffering of these birds is palpable in each of the videos. Still, Tyson delivered birds, year after year.”

Leahy said she believes Tyson’s decision to end its contract with this farm may have been related more to its decision to shut down a processing plant in the area this spring — not animal welfare concerns.

“It’s very clear that Tyson is an important part of the puzzle here, and the cruelty that we see in this investigation is systemic,” said Leahy, who cited two previous investigations her group has done at farms affiliated with Tyson.

The group filed a complaint with the local district attorney asking for a criminal investigation into the way the chickens were treated that was forwarded on to the state attorney general’s office.

In addition to the abuse Animal Outlook found, the group said this farm failed to follow good biosecurity practices to limit the spread of disease despite the ongoing bird flu outbreak that has prompted officials to slaughter nearly 59 million chickens and turkeys to limit the spread of that virus.

Animal Outlook said workers failed to sanitize their boots in bleach before they entered barns, and some of the buildings had openings that could allow wild animals to get inside. Experts believe bird flu is primarily spread by the droppings of wild birds as they migrate past farms.

The animal rights group said its investigator also found instances of bugs in some of the chicken feed and rats in the barns where the chickens were housed.

___

Josh Funk
Josh covers railroads & Warren Buffett's Berkshire HathawayFunkwritejfunk@ap.org

Follow Josh Funk online at www.twitter.com/funkwrite

More dogs could show up in outdoor dining spaces. Not everyone is happy about it

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

AP

yesterday

Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces.

But even though nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors, the issue is far from settled, with many diners and restaurants pushing back against the increasing presence of pooches.

Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000’s that a handful of states — including Florida and Illinois — began passing laws allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces, according to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University. Twenty-three states now have such laws or regulations.

But the legal landscape is confusing. Michigan law doesn’t allow dogs in outdoor dining spaces, for example, but lets restaurants apply for a variance from their county health department.

So in 2020, the Conference for Food Protection — a group of food industry and health experts that advises the government — asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue guidance for states. It cited a 2012 risk assessment in Australia and New Zealand that found that the health risk to human diners from dogs was very low.

The FDA’s updated food code, issued late last year, says restaurants can have dogs in outdoor areas if they get approval from a local regulator. Restaurants should have signs saying dogs are welcome and should develop plans to handle dogs and their waste. They should ensure dogs remain properly restrained and provide separate food bowls so dogs don’t use plates or utensils meant for humans.

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The new guidance comes as U.S. pet ownership is rising. Nearly 87 million U.S. households now have a pet, up from 85 million in 2019, according to the American Pet Products Association.

And experts say more people are looking for dining options that will accommodate their dogs. Yelp searches for businesses using the “dogs allowed” filter jumped 58% between the year ending May 1, 2021, and the year ending May 1, 2023. A total of 47,415 businesses now describe themselves as “dog friendly” on Yelp, the company says.

“Younger pet owners, Millennials and Generation Z, have incredibly strong bonds with their pets and they are willing to act upon that,” said Steven Feldman, president of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute. “They are more likely to frequent — and express a preference for — pet-friendly businesses.”

Monty Hobbs, the managing director of a digital marketing agency in Washington, can often be found at local restaurant patios with Mattox, his 5-year-old terrier and miniature schnauzer mix. Some waiters even bring Mattox bits of bacon.

Hobbs stresses that he doesn’t take Mattox everywhere. “He’s my dog. He’s not my child,” he said.

But Mattox is well-behaved, he said, so it’s nice to know they can drop in at a neighborhood bar if they’re out taking a walk.

At Zazie, a San Francisco bistro, diners get $10 off a bottle of wine on Mondays if they bring their dogs, who get treats donated by the pet store across the street.

“It’s great for business. People really enjoy bringing their dog out with them,” said Megan Cornelius, Zazie’s co-owner.

New government guidance for outdoor dining with dogs

Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has issued new guidance saying restaurants can have dogs in their outdoor spaces. It better reflects reality; nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors. (May 14) (AP video: Haven Daley)

But other restaurants are saying no to Fido.

The Salty Dog Café in Hilton Head, South Carolina, allowed dogs on its patio when it first opened in 1987. But two years later, it banned them. Too many dogs were barking through meals, fighting, lying in walkways and stealing hot dogs from kids’ plates, says Tim Stearns, the Salty Dog’s chief operating officer.

If diners object, the Salty Dog points them to a separate dog-friendly deck where they can eat takeout food from the restaurant. But most diners seem to appreciate the policy.

“We are all dog lovers at Salty Dog, but we remain a restaurant for humans,” Stearns said.

The Blond Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory in Key West, Florida, banned dogs because it didn’t want to be held responsible if a dog ate iguana droppings — which can make them violently ill — or tripped a child or an elderly diner. In at least one case, an unleashed dog at the restaurant killed a neighborhood cat.

Julie Denzin, who has worked as a restaurant server in Milwaukee for more than a decade, has watched dogs drool, fight, growl and relieve themselves on restaurant patios. Dogs have bitten her and knocked her over, causing her to spill scalding hot coffee. She has also encountered diners who are allergic to dogs or afraid of them.

Denzin doesn’t think dogs should be banned, but says restaurants should consider designating dog-friendly areas or specific hours when dogs are allowed.

“It’s not a matter of liking or disliking dogs,” she said. “The point is, regardless of what the owner might say — no matter how perfect and obedient they insist their dog is — there’s no way to ensure the safety and comfort of other guests.”

Maddie Speirs, a dog trainer with Pawsitive Futures Dog Training in St. Petersburg, Florida, said many people hire her with the goal of training their dogs to eat out at restaurants. Not every dog is cut out for that, she said; they need to be comfortable with noise and unsolicited interactions and able to be able to sit near food for long periods.

She urges owners to think about who benefits from restaurant visits: them or their dogs.

“If you think it’s for your dog, what exactly are they getting out of it?” she said. “It’s not as fun of a social interaction for dogs as it is for us.”

WE WERE IN CANMORE THIS WEEKEND, HENCE NO BLOGGING

(AS A CONCERED READER NOTED)

WE TOOK IVY, OUR SCHIPERKE  ,WITH US AND LOW AND BEHOLD A RESTERAUNT BAR ALLOWED DOGS OUTSIDE ON THE PATIO ONLY.

RIP

Pale Male, red-tailed hawk who nested above NYC’s Fifth Avenue for 30 years, dies at 33

By KAREN MATTHEWS

yesterday

Pale Male, a red tailed hawk, leaves his nest with a rat he just caught hanging from his beak, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005, in New York. Pale Male, who brought a touch of the wild to swanky Manhattan as he nested above Fifth Avenue with a succession of mates for more than 30 years, died late Tuesday, May 16, 2023, after being found ill and grounded in Central Park, wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath posted on Facebook. The hawk was believed to be 33 years old. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk who brought a touch of the wild to swanky Manhattan as he nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades, has died.

Pale Male died late Tuesday after being found ill and grounded in Central Park, wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath posted on Facebook. The hawk was believed to be 33 years old.

Horvath posted that he picked Pale Male up and took him to his rehab group’s veterinarian, who did bloodwork and X-rays. The hawk later ate a small meal but remained weak and lethargic, Horvath said. “We hoped for any improvement, but sadly it was not meant to be,” he said.

Pale Male, so named because of his whitish plumage, was first spotted in Central Park as a juvenile in 1991 and began nesting on Fifth Avenue across from the park in 1993.

Bird lovers crowded inside the park to watch as Pale Male and his succession of mates hatched and raised their young each spring.

The birders were outraged in 2004 when Pale Male’s nest with then-mate Lola was ripped from its ledge on the 12th floor of a ritzy apartment building whose residents included actor Mary Tyler Moore and CNN anchor Paula Zahn. Moore publicly opposed the nest removal.

The co-op board, which had voted to remove the nest as a hazard, quickly reversed itself and restored a row of anti-pigeon spikes that the hawks had used to anchor their nest, and even added a new metal “cradle” on the ledge. Pale Male and Lola rebuilt their nest.

As his legend grew, Pale Male was the subject of a 2009 documentary, “The Legend of Pale Male,” and at least three illustrated children’s books.

Horvath wrote in his post that Pale Male inspired bird lovers and photographers around the world. Some took up bird photography professionally, he wrote, but “most were just local residents or tourists who just wanted an opportunity to get a glimpse of this famous hawk.”

David Barrett, who runs birding Twitter accounts including Manhattan Bird Alert, said that for much of Pale Male’s life “he was not only the world’s most famous red-tailed hawk, but he was probably the world’s most famous bird, one that people knew by name.”

Barrett said the hawk’s fame “shows that even in an intensely urban place like Manhattan, there are many people who have a fondness for wildlife and feel a connection to it.”

It is difficult to know with 100% certainty that the hawk that died Tuesday was Pale Male, since Pale Male was never banded.

Some observers began wondering around 2021 if Pale Male had died and been replaced in the Fifth Avenue nest by another hawk who resembled him.

No eggs were observed in the nest in recent breeding seasons, which Barrett said points toward the likelihood that the resident male hawk was in fact an elderly Pale Male, no longer interested in propagating.

Horvath said he believes the hawk whose final hours he witnessed Tuesday was Pale Male, a bird he has been following for 20 years.

“I’ve rescued babies of his that were poisoned,” Horvath said in an interview. “I have a history with his family.”

If Pale Male did live past 30, his life was one of the longest ever recorded for a red-tailed hawk. He survived several mates including Chocolate, Blue, Lola and Lima. His most recent mate was Octavia.

He is survived by an unknown number of descendants.

As Triple Crown chase rolls on, horse racing at a crossroads after latest spate of deaths

By STEPHEN WHYNO

yesterday

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Preakness contender First Mission is groomed after working out on the Pimlico track Tuesday morning, May 16, 2023, in Baltimore, in preparation for Saturday's Preakness Stakes horse race. 

(Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Brad Cox sent 21 horses he trains to Churchill Downs in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby and all came back from their races healthy with no problems.

Still, Cox is worried. Seven horses died in a span of 10 days at and around the famous track, thrusting horse racing into a familiar, negative spotlight during Triple Crown season. The sport, which by some measures is as popular as ever, is facing intense scrutiny over the health of its animal athletes.

“The sales are strong, and the purses are strong, people are still involved — hopefully we can keep it going,” Cox said this week while preparing for the Preakness. “I think people are doing a good job of trying to keep their horses sound, healthy, happy and performing well. That’s the main thing. I’ve got a lot of questions about Derby week and what all happened there.”

He’s not alone. Industry leaders say racing is at a critical juncture, even though horse deaths are at their lowest number since they began being tracked, money is flowing and new national medication and anti-doping rules are set to take effect next week. The hope is to clean up the sport, making it fairer for those involved and perhaps more acceptable to skeptics.

“When it comes to passion about the horse and all of that, we’ve got a really vibrant industry,” Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority CEO Lisa Lazarus told The Associated Press. “We’re at a crossroads because of essentially what happened in the leadup to the Derby weekend, on Derby day, and obviously incidents over the last few years that shows that there’s nothing more important for the sustainability of our industry than ensuring that we’re taking the best care possible of our horses and the people who ride them.”

The authority (HISA) is a federally mandated agency established to set uniform regulations across the U.S. Its racetrack safety program has been in place since July 1, and the Antidoping and Medication Control Program that was delayed and challenged in court is set to start Monday.

In the big picture, it may already be working.

According to the Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database, the rate of 1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starts (or fewer than 13 horses out of each 10,000 who race) in 2022 is the lowest since record-keeping of that number began in 2009. According to University of Bristol professor Tim Parkin, the final six months of last year was “the safest six-month period on record.”

Those in charge of the sport understand the progress that has been made fades into the background when there is a high-profile cluster of deaths like those in Kentucky this spring, at Santa Anita in California in 2019 and at Aqueduct in New York in 2011-12.

National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Tom Rooney said he knows there is a culture of accepting the risk of injuries and deaths inherent in horse racing but acknowledged the need to address the criticism.

“With the advancements in social media and cable news, every single fatality is probably more pronounced now than it ever has been,” Rooney said. “There’s nowhere for us to hide, nor should there be, except to get better and to keep getting better and to show that we have done everything that we can absolutely minimize the risk to horses.”

Craig Bernick, an owner and breeder at Glen Hill Farm in Florida who is also part of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, said infighting within the business — and “too many lawyers” in important positions — has prevented real change. Still, he pointed out, “There have been improvements out of most of (horse racing’s) catastrophes.”

A task force spurred by the deaths at Aqueduct more than a decade ago led to a series of reforms in the Mid-Atlantic region that reduced fatalities there by 35%. New safety measures have also been put in place since the deaths at Santa Anita four years ago.

Dr. Dionne Benson has been at the forefront of many of those steps since taking over in the aftermath of the Santa Anita situation as chief veterinary officer for the Stronach Group, which owns and operates tracks in California, Florida and Maryland — the latter of which annually hosts the Preakness at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore. Benson and Stronach’s 1/ST Racing chief operating officer, Aidan Butler, point to the company’s investment in standing positron emission tomography machines as one innovation that has reduced fatalities.

“It basically allows us to observe injuries to a place on their leg where it had never been seen before and was responsible for quite a few of the fractures that we’d had historically,” Benson said.

Racing fatalities at Santa Anita are down 79% from 2019 to 2022. They’re down more than 85% at Pimlico, where Kentucky Derby winner Mage on Saturday is favored to win the second Triple Crown race of the year.

Among the preventative measures in place in Baltimore is a series of pre-race drug tests and checkups by independent veterinarians. Benson and a surgeon will look at each Preakness horse and those in a couple of other big races this weekend, and a Maryland Racing Commission vet must clear each one to run.

“There’s an actual formulated set of protocols and operating principles. They work, and they work really, really well,” Butler said. “For the big days, obviously they’re in effect. But then growing to all of our racing jurisdictions to make sure things that work are implemented far and wide and then hopefully other racing jurisdictions that aren’t anything to do with us, per se, can adopt them and see what’s working and make the industry safe across the board.”

Safer and more equitable. Before Rooney took over as head of the NTRA, he recalled, a well-known trainer pleaded with him to make sure racing rules were the same from Florida to New York to Kentucky and beyond. HISA, which is the first national commission in the sport’s long history, aims to do that; Lazarus said the medication and doping regulations will be stricter than any currently in place.

There has been pushback, but Lazarus said she has noticed more acceptance since the deaths in Kentucky. Given that race purses are at an all-time high and almost $25 billion was bet on horse racing in the U.S. over the past two years, there’s incentive for agreement to grow the sport

“If we can make the sport stronger, if we can make the product better by wrapping it in safety and integrity, there’s no question that it’s going to prosper financially,” Lazarus said. “I think we’re really going to be able to show that kind of secure industry where the public has trust and feels good that the horses are taken well care of, it’s going to mean more people invest in horse racing.”

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PEN America, Penguin Random House sue Florida school district over book bans

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE

 Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books, including "The Bluest Eye," by Toni Morrison, that have been the subject of complaints from parents, on Dec. 16, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Publisher Penguin Random House and PEN America sued a Florida school district Wednesday, May 17, 2023, over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities, the latest opposition to a policy central to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda as he prepares to run for president. Among the removed books are “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed and “Lucky” by Alice Sebold. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Writers’ group PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House sued a Florida school district Wednesday over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities, the latest opposition to a policy central to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda as he prepares to run for president.

The federal lawsuit alleges the Escambia County School District and its School Board are violating the First Amendment through the removal of 10 books from library shelves.

The case does not name DeSantis as a defendant though the Republican governor has championed policies that allow the censorship and challenging of books based on whether they are appropriate for children in schools, causing national uproar.

DeSantis, who is expected to announce his presidential candidacy in the coming days, has leaned heavily into cultural divides on race, sexual orientation and gender as he moves to win support from conservative voters who decide Republican primary elections.

“Books have the capacity to change lives for the better, and students in particular deserve equitable access to a wide range of perspectives. Censorship, in the form of book bans like those enacted by Escambia County, are a direct threat to democracy and our Constitutional rights,” Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, said in a statement.

Escambia County school officials did not immediately return a request for comment.

PEN America, which has tracked school book bans, advocates for literary freedoms and has a membership of 7,500 writing professionals, including authors whose books have been removed or restricted in the school district. Penguin Random House, a massive publisher, has published books that have been removed or restricted by the district.

The lawsuit says the removals stem from objections from one language arts teacher in the county, and in each case the school board voted to remove the books over recommendations from a district review committee that deemed them educationally suitable.

The teacher’s formal objections to the books appear to draw on materials compiled by a website that creates reports on books it deems ideologically unsuitable for children, according to the lawsuit.

In one example cited in the lawsuit, the teacher admitted she had never heard of the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky but filed an objection form to the novel that contained specific excerpts and phrasing from the book ban website.

Among the other removed books are “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed and “Lucky” by Alice Sebold. The lawsuit said more than 150 additional books are under review by the school board.

“In Escambia County, state censors are spiriting books off shelves in a deliberate attempt to suppress diverse voices. In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America. “The law demands that the Escambia County School District put removed or restricted books back on library shelves where they belong.”

PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

UN expert: Myanmar military imported $1 billion in weapons since 2021 coup


Myanmar military officers leave the venue during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 27, 2023. Myanmar’s military government is urging people fighting against its rule to surrender their weapons, offering a cash reward if they do so along with the possibility of reduced sentences if they broke the law. The official announcement was made in the edition of the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper Wednesday, May 10. 

(AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Myanmar’s military has imported at least $1 billion worth of weapons and related material from Russia, China and other countries since its February 2021 coup, some of which it has used to carry out atrocities against civilians, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

The weapons continue to flow to the military despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility for the atrocities, including some that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, said Tom Andrews, the U.N. independent investigator on human rights in Myanmar.

The report also identified Singapore as among the main suppliers, followed by India and Thailand.

Myanmar is mired in strife because of a political crisis unleashed when the military took power. Its takeover prompted widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force, triggering armed resistance throughout the country that the army has been unable to quell

The report documents over 12,500 purchases that were shipped directly to the Myanmar military or known Myanmar arms dealers working for the military from Feb. 1, 2021, when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, until December 2022, Andrews said at a news conference.

He said the volume and diversity of equipment the military received is “staggering,” ranging from fighter jets and attack helicopters and drones to advanced missile systems, tank upgrades, sophisticated communications equipment, radar complexes and components for naval ships.

Andrews said he had received “highly credible and detailed information from confidential sources” identifying the major networks and companies involved in the arms trade with Myanmar. Over $947 million of the $1 billion in equipment went directly to entities controlled by the Myanmar military, he said.

The report identifies $406 million worth of weapons and material that went to the Myanmar junta from Russia, $267 million worth from China, $254 million from Singapore, $51 million from India and $28 million from Thailand.

Since the coup, it said, Russian private and state-owned companies have transferred fighter jets and their spare parts, advanced missile systems, reconnaissance and attack drones, attack helicopters and other systems to the junta.

Numerous private and state-owned companies registered in China and Hong Kong supplied the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment and raw materials between October 2021 and December 2022, including advanced trainer jets, light attack aircraft, tank upgrades and repairs for Chinese fighter jets, which make up the Myanmar Air Force fleet, the report said.

They also supplied aluminum, copper, steel, rubber and lubricants for use in Myanmar’s domestic weapons manufacturing, it said.

Unlike with Russia and China, and to a lesser extent India, Andrews said he received no information indicating that the governments of Singapore or Thailand approved or transferred arms to the Myanmar military.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Brazil’s Congress opens probe into soccer match-fixing scandal

By MAURICIO SAVARESE

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s lower house of Congress on Wednesday opened a probe into a soccer match-fixing scandal that has rocked the sport in the South American nation.

It is the third investigation into evidence of wrongdoing by soccer players who allegedly made sure to get bookings and gave away penalties in exchange for bribes.

The congressional inquiry will last at least 120 days and will hear testimony from players, executives of sports betting companies and club officials. Brazil’s federal police and the district attorney’s office of the state of Goias are also involved in the case, and both bodies will be able to use the findings of Congress in its own investigations.

The first investigation of the attorney’s office in Goias showed that players were offered between $10,000 and $20,000 to perform specific actions, like receiving yellow cards and giving away penalty kicks. Alleged criminals would then profit on betting sites.

“Our intention is to do away with these crimes in Brazilian soccer, which hurt the passion of millions of fans,” said congressman Felipe Carreras. “This is the biggest scandal of Brazil’s soccer history. The credibility of our soccer is in jeopardy. We don’t know whether a given yellow card, a red card or a penalty was supposed to happen or not.”

Carreras also said one of the goals of the congressional inquiry is to feed new legislation to regulate sports betting in the South American country. Several top-flight division clubs have those companies as their sponsors.

The investigation kicked off in November, focusing on three matches, and has widened to 11 games, though some were in lower leagues.

The matches spanned the second half of 2022 and the first three months of this year. A district attorney told The Associated Press on Monday that the scandal has potentially international reach. Local media reported that suspected criminals mentioned having contacts in the United States, Greece and Lithuania.

Days earlier, a court in Goias accepted charges against 16 people accused of taking part of the scheme, including eight soccer players in Brazil’s first and second divisions. On Tuesday, Brazil’s sports court suspended all those players.

Former Flamengo chairman and lawmaker Eduardo Bandeira de Mello told the AP the congressional inquiry will be key for the investigation’s visibility.

“This will have an educational effect. Any young athlete who tries to get into a scheme like this will think twice,” said de Mello.

The lawmaker chaired Flamengo when Colorado Rapids midfielder Max Alves played for the club. Alves was named in the probe, though not charged, and his MLS club suspended him. Alves has not commented publicly.

“I am very sad about that. We always had a very affectionate relationship with these players coming from Flamengo’s youth divisions,” de Mello said. “All I can do is to hope that his participation was the smallest possible.”

Brazil’s government is reportedly preparing an executive order to tax sports betting companies, which local clubs are already protesting about.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Minnesota gets $60.5M in settlement with e-cigarette maker Juul, tobacco giant Altria

By STEVE KARNOWSKI

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota settled its lawsuit against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs and tobacco giant Altria for $60.5 million, Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday, saying the total is significantly higher per capita than any other state that sued Juul over youth vaping and marketing practices.

The state’s lawsuit was the first and still the only one of thousands of cases nationwide against the e-cigarette maker to reach trial. It settled just ahead of closing arguments last month, but the terms had to be kept confidential for 30 days until the formal papers were filed publicly with the court.

Ellison said Minnesota got the big settlement precisely because the state took Juul to trial. He said the sum exceeds what Juul made in Minnesota from 2015 to 2021.

“We were the only state willing to take this battle to trial and hold the bad actors accountable. It sends a message that you cannot get away with this,” Ellison said at a news conference with Gov. Tim Walz. “We will put you in front of a Minnesota jury and you can take your chances.”

Most of the other cases have settled, including dozens with other states and U.S. territories. The largest settlement came last month when it was announced that Juul Labs will pay $462 million to six states and the District of Columbia to settle lawsuits related to its marketing tactics. As part of that deal, Juul pledged not to market its products to anyone under the age of 35 and to limit the amount customers can purchase in retail stores and online.

Ellison said ahead of the state’s trial that he was seeking more than $100 million in damages. His spokesperson, John Stiles, told reporters Wednesday that if Minnesota had settled on the same terms as the six states and the District of Columbia, it would have gotten about $30 million, or as little as $15 million if it had accepted the terms most other states did.
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Not only will Juul and Altria pay $60.5 million, Ellison said, they’ll pay more a third of it within 30 days and more than 60% within a year. The state will get about $43 million after litigation costs and attorney’s fees. Legislation is pending to dedicate the money to tobacco prevention.

In addition to the internal company documents Juul has disclosed in other settlements, Minnesota will also get documents specific to the state for a total of 10 million documents that researchers and journalists can pore through, Ellison said. “We’re going to have a lot of sunlight,” he said. And unlike the other settlements, he said, Altria will disclose its internal documents on its involvement with Juul.

The settlement specifically prohibits Juul from marketing to children and young adults in Minnesota, he said, and requires the company to accurately disclose the nicotine content of its products.

Juul declined to say anything about the details of the settlement and stood by a statement it issued when the agreement was announced.

“We have now settled with 48 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs,” the statement said. “This is in addition to our global resolution of the U.S. private litigation that covers more than 5,000 cases brought by approximately 10,000 plaintiffs.”

Attorneys for Minnesota argued during the case that Juul unlawfully targeted young people with vaping products to get a new generation addicted to nicotine. Juul attorneys countered that its purpose was to convert adult smokers of combustible cigarettes to a less-dangerous product — not to lure kids.

Minnesota, which won a landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, filed its lawsuit in 2019 and added Altria, which formerly owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant in 2020. Altria completed its divestiture in March and said it effectively lost its $12.8 billion investment.

Washington, D.C.-based Juul Labs launched in 2015 on the popularity of flavors like mango, mint, fruit medley and creme brulee. Teenagers fueled its rise, and some became addicted to Juul’s high-nicotine pods. Amid a backlash, the company dropped all U.S. advertising and discontinued most of its flavors in 2019, losing popularity with teens. Juul’s share of the now multibillion-dollar market has fallen to about 33% from a high of 75% in 2018.

‘Whoa’: Enormous freighter packed with salt runs aground near Detroit island park

Spectators walks around Belle Isle after the freighter M/V Mark W. Barker ran aground, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, in Detroit. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, planning is underway to refloat the ship and determine the cause. No injuries, pollution, or damage was reported. 

(Andy Morrison/Detroit News via AP)

DETROIT (AP) — A huge freighter hauling salt through the Great Lakes ran aground in the Detroit River on Wednesday, causing a spectacle off the shore of a popular island park.

Freighters regularly travel the waterway but they rarely come so close to land, so the sudden arrival of the Mark W. Barker, which is nearly 650 feet (200 meters) long, turned heads at Belle Isle, a state park in the river.

“I came down here and I looked and I was like, ‘whoa,’” Diane Reid told The Detroit News.

The freighter lost propulsion because of an electronics malfunction and got stuck in mud and sand about 8 a.m., the U.S. Coast Guard said.

It was freed by a tugboat around noon “fairly easily” but will be anchored in the river for an inspection, said Lt. j.g. Adeeb Ahmad.

“There were no concerns for vessel traffic. No one was injured,” Ahmad said. “For such an unfortunate event, it was the best-case scenario. It happened right next to our Coast Guard station on Belle Isle.”

The freighter M/V Mark W. Barker ran aground near Belle Isle, Wednesday morning, May 17, 2023, in Detroit. (Andy Morrison/Detroit News via AP)

Michigan protects workers from retaliation for having an abortion

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI

 Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses supporters before signing legislation to repeal the 1931 abortion ban statute, which criminalized abortion in nearly all cases, during a bill signing ceremony on April 5, 2023, in Birmingham, Mich. Michigan companies will be prohibited from firing or otherwise retaliating against workers for receiving an abortion under a bill signed Wednesday, May 17, 2023, by Whitmer, that amends the state's civil rights law. 

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan companies will be prohibited from firing or otherwise retaliating against workers for receiving an abortion under a bill signed Wednesday by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that amends the state’s civil rights law.

Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act had previously only protected individuals against employment discrimination if the abortion was to “save the life of the mother.” Legislation signed Wednesday will extend those protections to anyone who terminates a pregnancy, regardless of reasoning.

“No one in Michigan should face discrimination because they exercised their constitutional rights, including their right to reproductive freedom by having an abortion,” Whitmer said in a statement Wednesday.

The new law, which will go into effect next year, will ensure that workers cannot be treated differently for receiving an abortion, a provision that advocates say is important to ensure employers don’t discriminate based on personal beliefs.

The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public services based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status or marital status. It was amended in March to protect LGTBQ communities as well.

Michigan has been one of the leading states in protecting abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

In November, voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot proposal that enshrined abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution after a 1931 law was triggered by the fall of Roe that made it a four-year felony to assist in an abortion. The law, which was blocked in courts for months, was removed from the state’s books last month by Democrats.

Michigan’s move to specify civil rights protections for people who have obtained abortions appears to be a relatively uncommon move, even at a time when blue states are protecting abortion access.

A bill in New York would add “pregnancy outcome” to the list of classes protected under nondiscrimination law. A law signed this year in New Mexico bars discrimination by government agency against people who have had abortions.

The issue has come up in court before. In 2008, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents employers for firing workers for obtaining abortions.

Trust in Supreme Court fell to lowest point in 50 years after abortion decision, poll shows

By MARK SHERMAN and EMILY SWANSONan hour ago

 Abortion-rights and anti-abortion demonstrators gather outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. Confidence in the Supreme Court sank to its lowest point in at least 50 years in 2022, in the wake of the Dobbs decision that led to state bans and other restrictions on abortion. That's according to the General Social Survey, a long-running and widely respected survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago that has been measuring confidence in the court since 1973, the same year that Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide.

(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Confidence in the Supreme Court sank to its lowest point in at least 50 years in 2022 in the wake of the Dobbs decision that led to state bans and other restrictions on abortion, a major trends survey shows.

The divide between Democrats and Republicans over support for abortion rights also was the largest ever in 2022, according to the General Social Survey. The long-running and widely respected survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago has been measuring confidence in the court since 1973, the same year that Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide.

In the 2022 survey, just 18% of Americans said they have a great deal of confidence in the court, down from 26% in 2021, and 36% said they had hardly any, up from 21%. Another 46% said they have “only some” confidence in the most recent survey.

The drastic change was concentrated among women, Democrats and those who say a woman should be able to get an abortion if she wants one “for any reason,” the survey shows.

Confidence in high court drops

Public confidence in the Supreme Court plunged to 18% in 2022, the lowest level since the General Social Survey began tracking the trend half a century ago.

Just 12% of women said they have a great deal of confidence in the court in 2022, down from 22% a year earlier and from 32% in 2018. Confidence among Democrats fell to 8% in 2022 from 25% a year earlier. And among those who think abortion should be available to a woman who wants one for any reason, confidence in the court dropped from 25% to 12%.

Even among Republicans, though, confidence has slipped somewhat over the past several years in a court dominated by Republican-appointed conservative justices. Twenty-six percent said they have a great deal of confidence in the court, down from 31% in 2021 and from 37% in 2018.

The survey is conducted using in-person and online interviews over the course of several months. Most interviews were conducted after the court’s conservative majority issued its Dobbs decision in late June that overturned Roe and all were conducted after a draft of the decision was leaked seven weeks earlier.

Support for widely available abortion did not change substantially between 2021 and 2022, but the poll shows support for widely available abortion has increased since 2016, when just 46% said that abortion should be available if a woman wants one for any reason and 54% said it should not. In the new survey, slightly more said it should be available than that it should not be, 53% to 47%.

The difference is driven by skyrocketing support for abortion rights among Democrats, while Republican levels of support are at or near a 50-year low. The 77%-28% split between Democrat and Republicans in their backing for abortion rights is the largest-ever partisan divide on the question.

Large majorities of Americans said they think a woman should be able to have an abortion if her own health is at risk, if there is a strong change of a serious defect in the baby or if the pregnancy was the result of rape.

Multiple states now ban abortion with no exception in cases of rape or incest. Mississippi’s ban has an exception for rape but not incest.

The General Social Survey has been conducted since 1972 by NORC at the University of Chicago. Sample sizes for each year’s survey vary from about 1,500 to about 4,000 adults, with margins of error falling between plus or minus 2 percentage points and plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The most recent survey was conducted May 5, 2022, through Dec. 20, 2022, and includes interviews with 3,544 American adults. Results for the full sample have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
Black victims of violent crime disproportionately denied aid in many states

By CLAUDIA LAUER and MIKE CATALINI

May 17, 2023 

The cold formality of the letter is seared in Debra Long’s memory.

It began “Dear Claimant,” and said her 24-year-old son, Randy, who was fatally shot in April 2006, was not an “innocent” victim. Without further explanation, the agency that assists violent-crime victims and their families, known then as the New York Crime Victims Board, refused to help pay for his funeral.

Randy was a father, engaged to be married and studying to become a juvenile probation officer when his life was cut short during a visit to Brooklyn with friends. His mother, angry and bewildered by the letter, wondered: What did authorities see — or fail to see — in Randy?


“It felt racial. It felt like they saw a young African American man who was shot and killed and assumed he must have been doing something wrong,” Long said. “But believe me when I say, not my son.”

Debra Long had bumped up against a well-intentioned corner of the criminal justice system that is often perceived as unfair.

Every state has a program to reimburse victims for lost wages, medical bills, funerals and other expenses, awarding hundreds of millions in aid each year. But an Associated Press examination found that Black victims and their families are disproportionately denied compensation in many states, often for subjective reasons that experts say are rooted in racial biases.

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The AP found disproportionately high denial rates in 19 out of 23 states willing to provide detailed racial data, the largest collection of such data to date. In some states, including Indiana, Georgia and South Dakota, Black applicants were nearly twice as likely as white applicants to be denied. From 2018 through 2021, the denials added up to thousands of Black families each year collectively missing out on millions of dollars in aid.

The reasons for the disparities are complex and eligibility rules vary somewhat by state, but experts — including leaders of some of the programs — point to a few common factors:

— State employees reviewing applications often base decisions on information from police reports and follow-up questionnaires that seek officers’ opinions of victims’ behavior — both of which may contain implicitly biased descriptions of events.

— Those same employees may be influenced by their own biases when reviewing events that led to victims’ injuries or deaths. Without realizing it, a review of the facts morphs into an assessment of victims’ perceived culpability.

— Many state guidelines were designed decades ago with biases that benefited victims who would make the best witnesses, disadvantaging those with criminal histories, unpaid fines or addictions, among others.

As the wider criminal justice system — from police departments to courts — reckons with institutional racism in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, compensation programs are also beginning to scrutinize how their policies affect people of color

“We have this long history in victims services in this country of fixating on whether people are bad or good,” said Elizabeth Ruebman, an expert with a national network of victims-compensation advocates and a former adviser to New Jersey’s attorney general on the state’s program.

As a result, Black and brown applicants tend to face more scrutiny because of implicit biases, Ruebman said.

In some states examined by AP, such as New York and Nebraska, the denial rates for Black and white applicants weren’t too far apart. But the data revealed apparent bias in other ways: While white families were more likely to be denied for administrative reasons, such as missing deadlines or seeking aid for crimes that aren’t covered, Black families were more likely to be denied for subjective reasons, such as whether they may have said or done something to provoke a violent crime.

In Delaware, where Black applicants accounted for less than half of the compensation requests between 2018 and 2021 but more than 63% of denials, officials acknowledged that even the best of intentions are no match for systemic bias.

“State compensation programs are downstream resources in a criminal justice system whose headwaters are inextricably commingled with the history of racial inequity in our country,” Mat Marshall, a spokesman for Delaware’s attorney general wrote in an email. “Even race-neutral policy at the programmatic level may not accomplish neutral outcomes under the shadows that race and criminal justice cast on one another.”

The financial impact of a crime-related injury or death can be significant. Out of pocket expenses for things like crime scene cleanup or medical care can add up to thousands of dollars, prompting people to take out loans, drain savings or rely on family members.

After Randy was killed, Debra Long paid for his funeral with money she had saved for a down payment on her first house. Seventeen years later, she still rents an apartment in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Thousands of people are denied compensation every year for reasons having nothing to do with the crime itself. They are denied because of victims’ behavior before or after a crime.

Applicants can be denied if police or other officials say they failed to cooperate with an investigation. That can inadvertently harm people who are wary of retribution for talking to police, or people who don’t have information. A Chicago woman who was shot in the back was denied for failing to cooperate even though she couldn’t identify the shooter because she never saw the person.

And compensation can be denied merely based on circumstantial evidence or suspicions, unlike the burden of proof that is necessary in criminal investigations.

Many states deny compensation based on a vaguely defined category of behavior — often called “contributory misconduct” — that includes anything from using an insult during a fight to having drugs in your system. Other times people have been denied because police found drugs on the ground nearby.

In the data examined by AP, Black applicants were almost three times as likely as applicants of other races to be denied for behavior-based reasons, including contributory misconduct.

“A lot of times it’s perception,” said Chantay Love, the executive director of the Every Murder is Real Healing Center in Philadelphia.


Love rattles off recent examples: A man killed while trying to break up a fight was on parole and was denied compensation, the state reasoned, because he should have steered clear of the incident; another was stabbed to death, and the state said he contributed because he checked himself out of a mental-health treatment facility a few hours earlier against a doctor’s advice.

Long scoured the police account of her son’s shooting. She called detectives and pleaded to know if they had said anything to the compensation program that would have implicated her son in some kind of a crime. There was nothing in the report. And detectives said they hadn’t submitted any additional information.

Every chance Long got, she reminded detectives and the state officials reviewing her claim that Randy had never been in trouble with the police. She wanted them to understand the injustice was also being felt by Randy’s then-toddler son, who would only know his father through other people’s memories.

Long kept information about her son’s case in a box near her kitchen. As more than 20 notebooks full of conversations with detectives piled up, Long tucked the state’s rejection letter inside a folder so she wouldn’t lose it, but also so she didn’t have to see it every time she searched for something.

“What plays in their mind is that their loved one wasn’t important,” said Love of the Philadelphia-based advocacy group. “It takes the power away from it being a homicide, and it creates a portion of blame for the victim.”

In recent years, several states and cities have changed eligibility rules to focus less on victims’ behavior before or after crimes.

In Pennsylvania, a law went into effect in September that says applicants cannot be denied financial help with funerals or counseling services because of a homicide victim’s behavior. In Illinois, a new program director has retrained employees on ways unconscious bias can creep into their decisions. And in Newark, New Jersey, police have changed the language they use in reports to describe interactions with victims, leading to fewer denials for failure to cooperate.

Long, who now works as a victims advocate, was in a training session in 2021 when a speaker began praising New York state’s compensation program. Long tried to stay quiet and get through the training session, but couldn’t. She told the group about her experience and the weight of the letter.

An Office of Victims Services employee approached Long after the meeting. She told Long the program had undergone an overhaul. There were no longer five board members who could make subjective decisions about claims. The program was now operating as a division, and there had been a cultural shift within the agency in the last decade including an increased focus to reach victims of color. She convinced Long to resubmit her claim.

A few weeks later, and nearly 15 years after Randy was buried, Long’s application was approved and the state sent her a check for $6,000 — the amount she would have received back in 2006. She used part of that money to help Randy’s son, who is now in college, pay for summer classes.

“It’s not about the monetary amount,” Long said. “It was the way I felt I was treated.”





___

Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey, and Lauer reported from Philadelphia.

Unionized school bus drivers in Georgia city continue strike, accusing company of unfair practices

DALTON, Ga. (AP) — School bus drivers are on strike in the northwest Georgia city of Dalton, leaving parents and school officials scrambling to take students to and from school.

Bus drivers began manning picket lines on Monday, attacking what they say are anti-union actions by First Student, the Cincinnati-based company that contracts with Dalton schools to run buses.

The district taught its 7,500 students online on Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it held class in person but ran buses for only two of its 10 schools, where students were taking state-mandated tests. District officials asked parents to bring students to other schools. Beginning Thursday, the district plans to offer a limited number of drop-off sites in neighborhoods.

Chris Crowe, vice president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1212, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that 53 bus drivers in the district are members of the union, and as many as 40 were actively manning picket lines on Monday. First Student said 20 bus drivers had crossed picket lines and were driving buses with police protection.

The company and union have been bargaining over wages, vacation time and insurance. First Student on Monday called it “extremely unfortunate” that employees continue to strike amid bargaining.

It’s illegal for public employees to bargain collectively or strike in Georgia, but those rules don’t apply to drivers for private school bus companies.

The union filed legal charges with the National Labor Relations Board last week accusing First Student of breaking labor laws. Crowe said First Student illegally retaliated against drivers negotiating for the union. He also said First Student illegally told drivers they couldn’t talk about the union at work and took down notices about the union from the bus drivers’ bulletin board.

“Our drivers are dedicated to transporting the kids safely back and forth from their homes to school,” Crowe told the Chattanooga newspaper. “They love their jobs and want to keep working but can’t because they’ve been mistreated. They’ve got to take a stand for what’s right.”

Thailand's opposition parties meet for coalition talks

 

 Supporters of Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat cheer as they celebrate the party's election results in Bangkok, Thailand, May 15, 2023. 

REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha 

This content was published on May 17, 2023 -

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's opposition parties, which trounced their military-allied rivals in this week's election, met for coalition talks on Wednesday as the liberal Move Forward Party, which won the most votes, looks to form a government.

Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat was seen greeting senior officials from five other parties at a Bangkok restaurant before ushering them upstairs for closed-door talks.

Sunday's vote saw Move Forward come in first ahead of another opposition party, the political heavyweight Pheu Thai, in a major blow to the establishment's pro-military parties led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Pita earlier this week said that together with five other opposition parties, his coalition will be able control about 310 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives.

The parties Pita has approached are Pheu Thai, Thai Sang Thai, Prachachart, Seri Ruam Thai and Fair parties.

Pheu Thai, which won the last five general elections but got pushed out of power each time, secured 141 seats, according to the latest projections, only 10 fewer than Move Forward.

However, a military-drafted constitution requires more than half of votes in a joint sitting of a bicameral legislature for him to become prime minister. He would need votes either from government parties or an unelected 250-member Senate who have a record of supporting Prayuth and conservative forces.

Analysts expect weeks to months of talks and dealmaking as parties jostle to form a government.

On Wednesday, some Thais questioned the senate's role in electing a prime minister, asking 'why do we need a senate' on social media like Twitter.

Senior officials from Pheu Thai have urged other hold outs to support a Pita premiership.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)

Projected winner of Thailand’s election says he will ‘demilitarize’ country

Story by Kocha Olarn • CNN- May 16,2023

Head of Thailand's victorious Move Forward Party speaks to Zain Asher
Duration 8:39  View on Watch

The unofficial winner of Thailand’s election has told CNN he will work to “demilitarize” the country, in his first one-on-one interview since Sunday’s poll.

Pita Limjaroenrat’s progressive Move Forward Party is on track to win the largest share of seats and the popular vote, according to unofficial results, far ahead of the party of incumbent Prime Minister – and 2014 coup leader – Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Pita, a 42-year-old Harvard alumni, said his policy priorities over the next four years will be to “demilitarize, demonopolize and decentralize” Thailand.

“With the three-prong approach, that’s the only way that we can fully democratize Thailand and make sure that Thailand is back to business, Thailand is back in the global arena, and make sure that the country … is contributing but also benefiting by the definition of globalization,” he said.

Opposition parties swept the board in Sunday’s nationwide election as voters delivered a powerful rebuke of the military-backed establishment that has ruled for nearly a decade since the coup, capping years of rising anger over how conservative cliques have governed the kingdom.

Move Forward had gained a huge following among young Thais for its reformist platform, which included radical plans to amend the country’s strict lese majeste laws despite the taboo surrounding any discussion of the royal family in Thailand.



Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat leads a victory parade with fellow party members and supporters outside Bangkok City Hall on May 15, 2023

- Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images

The party’s proposed structural changes to the military include getting rid of the draft, reducing the budget, making it more transparent and accountable, and reducing the number of generals.

Pita said the party’s success in Sunday’s election, in which a record number of Thais voted, showed those policies resonate not only with the young but across society. “That’s pretty sensational,” he said.

“It’s pretty clear that people have demanded change here in Thailand… it’s very clear that the sentiment of the era has changed and we have developed a consensus for a new day here,” Pita said.

Following the election, the Move Forward leader said he was in talks with the other opposition parties to form a coalition and secure enough of a majority in the lower house of parliament to form a government.

Among those parties is the populist Pheu Thai, which is aligned with the powerful Shinawatra family that had dominated every Thai election since 2001 before placing second in Sunday’s vote.

“The coalition is taking shape as we speak,” Pita said.

Despite voters delivering a vocal call for change by overwhelmingly rejecting military-backed parties, it’s not yet certain who will take power.

Senate roadblock

A major roadblock is the unelected 250-seat senate, which is chosen entirely by the military and has previously voted for a pro-military candidate.

A party or coalition needs to win a majority in both houses to elect a prime minister and form a government.

Pita said the unity of the senators is not the same as it was four years ago when they unanimously voted to elect Prayut as prime minister. They must also take into account the “significant shift in public opinion” that has developed since 2019, he said.

“If we keep communicating and we keep explaining what we’re trying to do for the country, and how well we mean for the future of this country, I think that will not be a significant roadblock. And the price to pay, the cost of going against 25 million votes here in Thailand will be very hefty,” Pita said.

Asked what would happen if Thailand’s military tried to subvert election outcomes, Pita said, “we have to minimize the risk” of subversion.

Move Forward’s predecessor, the Future Forward Party, won the third most seats in the 2019 election. Shortly afterward, several of the party’s leaders were banned from politics and the party was later dissolved after a court ruled it had violated electoral finance rules.

Thailand has witnessed a dozen successful coups since 1932, including two in the past 17 years.

But Pita said he’s prepared for every scenario.

“I’m not worried but I’m not careless as well. I’ve been in politics in Thailand for the past 20 years, so I can see the brutality of politics,” he said, adding that he has a strong team around him to “make sure we don’t give out any easy targets.”

“Yes, there are professional and personal attacks against me but I have prepared in the past in order to clarify and explain and make sure I have a strong legal basis for anything that comes my way,” Pita said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayut said “the formation of the new government will be in process” and he will perform his duty as leader and head of the cabinet to “the best of my abilities” while waiting for the new government to be formed